Late TD gives North 27-20 win

Monday

Jun 3, 2013 at 11:08 AMJun 3, 2013 at 11:15 AM

Ken Hamrick

Elbert's Blake Nicholas threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Akron's Austin Spear with 17 seconds remaining to lead the North team to a 27-20 win over the South in the 26th Annual 6/8-Man All-State Football Game Friday at La Junta High School's Tiger Stadium.

"That was nerve-wracking, but we came through," Nicholas said. "Our line blocked like crazy. It was fun. It was a great way to end a senior year. It was awesome."

The South had the ball first and was able to move into North territory. However, three straight negative-yardage plays stalled the drive and the South was forced to punt.

The North also punted on its first drive of the game after it, too, threw for negative yards on two plays.

The North had its first significant possession of the game in the second quarter as it drove to the South 40. However, Nicholas fumbled and the South recovered.

The South scored the first touchdown of the game on the very next play as Walsh's Terrell Stafford went 60 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.

Sargent's Austin Dillon threw to Granada's Tanner Grasmick for the two-point conversion to give the South an 8-0 lead with 5:41 left in the second quarter.

The North was forced back to its own 5 yard line on its next possession and had to punt. The South got good field position on the ensuing possession, but were forced backward and eventually turned the ball over on downs.

The North finally got on the scoreboard late in the quarter as Fleming's Tanner Serrato threw a 44-yard pass to Haxtun's Garrett Shafer. Rocky Mountain Lutheran's Luke Bohn booted the extra point to cut the South's lead to 8-7 at halftime.

The North had the first possession of the second half and it moved the ball to the South 38. However, the drive stalled there and the North turned the ball over on downs.

The South made the North pay two plays later as Stafford took the snap and went 62 yards down the left side for his second touchdown of the game.

The two-point conversion attempt failed and the South had a 14-7 lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter.

The North got good field position after the ensuing kickoff and took control at the South 42. It took 10 plays to cover 58 yards with Rangely's Chas Byerly going the final 18 yards. Bohn's point-after attempt was blocked and the South led 14-13 at the end of the third quarter.

The South regained the lead early in the fourth as Austin Dillon threw a 61-yard pass to Sargent teammate Scott Dillon. The two-point conversion was no good and the South had a 20-13 lead with 11:38 left in the game.

The North again had an answer as Nicholas and Spear hooked up for the first time in the game, this time on a 7-yard touchdown pass. A low snap resulted in Bohn's extra-point attempt being blocked and the South maintained a 20-19 lead with 7:29 to play.

The North regained possession as a bad snap was recovered by Caliche's Jordan Troester on the South 16. It looked as though the North was going to score as Nicholas headed to the end zone. However, he was stripped just before the goal line and the ball was recovered by Holly's Porter Salisbury in the end zone.

The South appeared to get a first down to get out of the shadow of its end zone as the Dillons hooked up for an apparent first down. However, a penalty nullified the play and the South had to punt out of its own end zone.

The North took over at the South 35 and after stalling on the South 28, Bohn lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt. However, the South was flagged for an offside penalty to keep the drive alive.

Nicholas and Spear connected for the game-winning touchdown five plays later. Fleming's Trevor Chintala ran in the two-point conversion.

The North had 233 rushing yards and was led by Nicholas, who ran for 85 yards on 11 carries. Byerly was next with 67 yards on 16 carries and Chintala had 45 yards on eight carries.

Serrato was the North's passing leader as he completed three of seven attempts for 64 yards. Nicholas completed both of his attempts for 12 yards with both passes going for touchdowns.

Shafer led in receiving with three catches for 51 yards and Spear had three receptions for 29 yards.

The South was led by Stafford, who ran the ball six times for 137 yards.

Austin Dillon completed six of nine passes for 89 yards. Scott Dillon had three receptions for 76 yards and Stafford had three catches for 13 yards.

Akron's Reed Christensen was named the Most Valuable Player for the North. Stafford was the South's MVP.